Warrant to be issued for Sudanese President over alleged Darfur genocide

The International Criminal Court will issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese
President Omar al-Bashir over alleged genocide in Darfur, the first time the
tribunal has sought the detention of a sitting head of state in its seven
years of operating.

Omar al-Beshir: Judges in the Hague will formally announce the decision over the next few daysPhoto: AFP

By Alex Spillius in Washington

6:52AM GMT 12 Feb 2009

According to a report in the New York Times, citing court lawyers and diplomats, judges in the Hague will formally announce the decision over the next few days.

It said precise charges cited by the judges against Bashir had not been not disclosed.

Last year, ICC's chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court for an arrest warrant for Bashir on 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said: "We have not been told about this but it would not be a surprise to us. It does not concern us."

Earlier this week UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Khartoum to act "very responsibly" if an arrest warrant is issued for Bashir.

The UN chief told a press conference that whatever decision the ICC reaches, "it will be very important for President Bashir and the Sudanese government to react very responsibly and ensure the safety and security" of UN peacekeepers (in Darfur) and protect the human rights of the population".

In Washington, the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 180 US faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations, said on Wednesday that UN member states must not continue "to do business as usual with Bashir once he is an indicted war criminal".

"At a minimum, countries should not allow him to travel to their territory and should limit diplomatic interaction with him in Khartoum to efforts to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan," it added.

According to the United Nations, 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels in Darfur rose up against the Khartoum government in February 2003. Sudan puts the death toll at 10,000.